Wrestling Legend Ox Baker Passes Away At Age 80

Wrestling legend Ox Baker, perhaps most famous for his role in the sci-fi film Escape From New York, passed away earlier today; he was 80 years old.

Baker won numerous championships in his career and was engaged in many feuds with such names as Harley Race, Big John Studd, Hulk Hogan and Macho Man Randy Savage. Baker was known for his ‘heart punch’ maneuver, but most people outside of wrestling knew him for his role in Escape, the 1981 sci-fi film directed by John Carpenter and starring Kurt Russell.

TMZ reported the news, coming shortly after WWE Hall of Famer Jerry “The King” Lawler had announced it on his Twitter account.

You can see Lawler’s Tweet, as well as a clip of Baker on The Price Is Right, and the original Escape From New York trailerbelow: